LA +1 Minotaurs?

[DogBackward]

For a +1 race, those ability scores seem rather bland. Especially for a minotaur, which is supposed to be strong as all get-out. With a +x race, you don't have to worry as much about keeping the abilities perfectly even, either. +4 Str, +2 Con, -2 Dex, -2 Int, and -2 Cha make good scores, and they make sense from what you described. And toss in Natural Armor +1, too. A minotaur, even a weaker one, shoul dnot be just a squishy-skinned as your average weakling human.

This seems fairly balanced, from my actual experience, especially once things get above level 5-6. The higher you go, the less these abilities are worth. It may be a little more powerful than most at level 2-4, but it'll even out quickly enough.

I've used those exact stat adjustments, with +2 Natural Armor, DR 1/-, Low Light Vision, Headbutt 2d4+1.5 Str, Powerful Build and +2 save vs spells and SL Abillities, as well as +4 to most physical skills and a few other minor abilities, and it worked out fine in my level 3 group, with only LA +1. Admittedly, I didn't have any power-gamer players at the time, but all you have to do is keep an eye on your players, which is what any DM should be doing anyway.

 

[Wik]

I'm nervous about it all. We had a Goliath in our group - a +1 LA race, with +4 strength and powerful build, and he was a powerhouse.

I've got a minotaur here, with some great resistances and whathaveyou, and I'm still just a little iffy about adding that +4 str.

As for the caster limitation - I want to encourage minotaur wizards, simply because I have a PrC aimed towards them. And taking a 1 level hit, as well as having your key ability suffering a penalty, seems pretty harsh.

I think I may change the ability mods to something like +4 strength, -2 dexterity, -2 intelligence, and -2 charisma. It just seems a bit.... much.

 

[DogBackward]

It is a bit much, which is why they lose an entire class level. That's less BAB, less HD, less skills and class features. It's up to you in the end, but it's not really that big a deal. Unless, of course, you have a bunch of munchkin power-gaming morons for players, who don't know how to avoid ruining a game. But then, that's not a problem with the race, it's a problem with the players.

 

[Cam Banks]

Dragonlance has LA +0 minotaurs, just in case you were interested...

Cheers,
Cam

 

[EP]

I'm nervous about it all. We had a Goliath in our group - a +1 LA race, with +4 strength and powerful build, and he was a powerhouse.

I've got a minotaur here, with some great resistances and whathaveyou, and I'm still just a little iffy about adding that +4 str.

I know what you mean. I have a full-fledged minotaur PC in my campaign and he is a bloody tank. Mind you, he was created before the real adjustments on ECL was made for 3.5 and after we converted him, he seemed more powerful than ever. Capping the Strength is one of the biggest ways to avoid an overly powerful character because it has so much of an impact on the game.

I can't remember which races have done this (drow for sure, now that I think about it), but there's always an option of subraces. Some minotaurs retain their physical nature have the ability score adjustments you provided while others have tapped into their magical nature and have a +2 Int, +1 Cha, -2 Str or something like that. Give the player the option to choose.